Bernard Leach: Beyond East and West (Memoirs, Portraits and Essays)

Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was as renowned in Japan and the East as in Europe and America, both as an artist-craftsman and as a thinker. His interpretation of the traditions of the Orient in the making of pots – and in evolving a philosophy of life – was a lodestar for many potters in the West.

Beyond East and West, first published in 1978, is more than an autobiography. Full of sharply- etched and amusing recollections, it contains much of Leach’s deeper thought and a great deal too about the practical application of his ideas. Its recurrent theme is the meeting of East and West at all levels – artistic, cultural, social, political.